DRAGONS EXTEND WIN STREAK TO 7 WITH SWEEP OF PRATT
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Shortstop Riley Dreher went a combined 6 for 6 on Saturday at Fun Valley to lead the Hutchinson Community College softball team to a Jayhawk Conference doubleheader sweep of the Pratt Beavers, extending their current winning streak to seven games.
The Blue Dragons were efficient in a pair of five-inning run-rule games of 9-1 and 12-1 in a pair of games played in 1 hour, 13 minutes and 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Hutchinson improves to 24-8 overall and finish the first half of conference play with a 13-3 record. The Blue Dragons travel to Labette for a midweek non-conference battle at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in Parsons, and then open the second half of league play next Saturday at Butler in El Dorado.
GAME 1 RECAP – Hutchinson 9, Pratt 1, 5 innings
Dreher, Hutchinson's leadoff hitter, and the bottom of the order led the way in Game 1 for the Blue Dragons.
Dreher was 3 for 3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs. She had a two-run single in the second and scored on a three-base error.
Desiray Segura had her second two-hit game of the season, going 2 for 2 with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. Reese Goetz was 2 for 3, including a game-ending two-run double in the bottom of the fifth to invoke the run rule.
The Blue Dragons out-hit Pratt 9-2 in Game 1.
Starting pitcher Aubree Thomas (8-1) tossed her seventh complete game of the season. Thomas needed only 64 pitches and allowed two hits and one run with one strikeout and now walks. Thomas coaxed nine ground-ball outs. Thomas allowed only two baserunners in the game.
GAME 2 RECAP – Hutchinson 12, Pratt 1, 5 innings
Tailor Golly's three-run home run in a seven-run second inning was the key blow to open up the second game for Hutchinson.
Along with Golly's home run, Leyla O'Connor had an RBI triple, Emory Benson-Hladik had an run-scoring double and Dreher had a two-run triple to open a 9-0 lead after two innings.
The Blue Dragons out-hit Pratt 14-1 in Game 2.
Dreher was 3 for 3 with a triple, three runs scored and three RBIs.
Golly was 2 for 2 with a single and three-run home run. O'Connor was 2 for 2 with a triple.
Alyssa Rogers (5-3) pitched the first four innings, allowing one hit and an unearned run. She struck out three and walked none. Jessica Schmidt had a strikeout and walk to close out the game in the top of the fifth.
GAME NOTES – Riley Dreher extended her current hitting streak to a season-long 12 games. Over that hitting streak, Dreher is hitting .638 (30 for 47). … Dreher had her sixth and seventh three-hit games of the season. … The Blue Dragons extended their winning streak over Pratt to 38 games, which dates back to 2013. … Hutchinson posted its eighth and ninth run-rule wins of the season. … The Blue Dragons now have 17 games of 10 or more hits. … Kaibryn Kruger became just the third Blue Dragon to reach 60 career stolen bases with a pair of steals on Saturday. … Kruger is now third on the career hit-by-pitch list with 33 and is sixth on the single-season list with 18 this season.